•Bloom Public Health begins capacity building training of players to increase self-reliance, access to safe, quality medicines
As part of efforts to strengthen the local manufacturing capacity of pharmaceutical companies, to increase the self-reliance of the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry and increase access to and availability of safe and quality medicines for the population, Bloom Public Health has started training pharmaceutical manufacturing companies.
The capacity-building training, Nigerian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Capacity Building Training, which held at The Colossus Hotel, Lagos, brought together global experts as training facilitators to address key issues within Nigeria’s pharmaceutical manufacturing sector.
The Bloom Public Health championed the training in partnership with National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) through the World Bank-funded IMPACT initiative.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bloom Public Health, Prof. Chimezie Anyakora, said the workshop is in furtherance of Bloom Public Health’s commitment towards repositioning the Nigerian pharma industry as an independent and significant player in the global space. Anyakora bemoaned the beggarly disposition of Nigeria in terms of the type of aid it gets from the international community.
According to him, instead of supporting the pharmaceutical sector with funds, most of the aid comes in the form of medicines which may not have the desired impact, hence the need for the country to chart a new and nobler course towards its own independence in terms of manufacturing capacity. To this end, he said, relevant players in the Nigerian pharma space, including the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), NIPRD, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN) and others are collaborating to make the attainment of this independence a reality.
“The IMPACT Project is here to help Nigeria attain quality and start competing globally. Year in, year out, a lot of funding that gets to the country comes as medicine aid not as monetary funding to Nigerian manufacturers. One way to discontinue this ugly trend is to build our people and change the beggarly narrative,” Anyakora said.
Anyakora said Bloom Public Health was born out of the need to create strategic and operational African driven solutions to solve public health problems, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector. Bloom Public Health is a think tank that convenes the most innovative African minds in public health and forges global partnership to design interventions that are tailored to the continent.
Several pharmaceutical manufacturers gathered from across Nigeria to participate in the Bloom Public Health-led capacity building training. Pharmaceutical companies present include: Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, Swiss Pharma Limited, May and Baker, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Unique Pharmaceuticals Limited, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc., Evans Baroque Limited, Daily Needs Industries, and Dana Pharmaceuticals, among several others.
Day one and two of the workshop witnessed insightful presentations from facilitators, with several topics addressed including trends in global Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliance, building quality culture in pharmaceutical manufacturing, updates on pharmaceutical regulation in Nigeria (Parts 1 & 2), process validation, deviation and OOS investigations, root cause analysis and CAPA, as well as group work sessions and case studies.
Facilitators at the training include: Dr. Onyenoha Chukwumerije, Ph.D., GxP (GMP/GDP/QA/QC) Consultant, World Health Organization & Principal Consultant/Founder, OnyexxPharma LLC. California; Dr. Loice Kikwai, Ph.D., Managing Partner, LCK Pharmaceutical Consulting, Washington DC; Prof. Chimezie Anyakora, CEO, Bloom Public Health; Hakeem Oshiyemi, MSc (Eng), Technical Director, Bloom Public Health; and Mr. Oluwasegun Idowu, GMP Specialist, Bloom Public Health. Training faculties also include: the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria PMG-MAN.
The workshop also saw the presence of several key players and leaders within Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry, including Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa OFR, Founder and Former CEO of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc. and Former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), and Ignatius Anukwu, Former Chairman of the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP).
Speaking at the training, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, OFR, commended Bloom Public Health for putting together the workshop. He noted that the training will significantly help address critical issues within Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry and encouraged pharmaceutical companies to take advantage of the opportunity.
“Bloom Public Health has shown its commitment to the transformation of Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry through this project. This workshop is a golden opportunity for Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturers to gain quality improvement and capacity-building support to strengthen their local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, and reposition Nigeria’s pharma industry as a continental and perhaps, global giant,” Ohuabunwa said.
